Ohio News

ROSS COUNTY, Ohio — The Ross County post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating a fatal plane crash.

OSHP says it happened Saturday afternoon off of Lancaster Road just south of U.S. 50. The first call came in shortly before 1 p.m.

One person has died in the crash, according to OSHP.

The type of plane has not been confirmed at this time. Authorities are working to determine the cause of the crash.

Stay with 10TV and 10TV.com on this developing story.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An attorney preparing a lawsuit against Ohio State University on behalf of more than 50 former athletes who claim they were sexually abused by a team physician told The Associated Press on Saturday that most of those clients were football players from the school's storied program, including some who went on to play in the NFL.

Dayton attorney Michael Wright said the abuse happened during required physical examinations at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center and during treatment for injuries and ailments at Strauss' off-campus clinic and at his home, where he insisted they be seen.

The physician, Dr. Richard Strauss, killed himself in 2005 nearly a decade after he was allowed to retire with honors.

A 232-page investigative report released Friday found that Strauss sexually abused at least 177 male students but made only one specific reference to football players while listing how many athletes from each team were abused. That list says three football players were interviewed.

Wright said he was not aware that any of his clients were interviewed by investigators from the Seattle-based Perkins Coie law firm.

An Ohio State spokesman declined to comment.

Investigators found that Strauss' abuse went on from 1979 to 1997 and took place at various locations across campus, including examining rooms, locker rooms, showers and saunas. Strauss contrived, among other things, to get young men to strip naked and he groped them sexually.

The report concluded that scores of Ohio State personnel knew of complaints and concerns about Strauss' conduct as early as 1979 but failed for years to investigate or take meaningful action.

"It was known he was seeing these athletes and there were issues," Wright said.

Wright said he plans to file the lawsuit late next week and, for now, that his clients prefer to remain anonymous.

"Clearly they had good relationships with the university, and they believe the university will either retaliate or significantly distance themselves from these athletes," Wright said.

Some of Strauss' victims remain angry in the aftermath of the report's release about how Ohio State has treated them in the decades after he ogled and groped them during physical examinations and medical treatment.

Former nursing student Brian Garrett said he worked for a short time at an off-campus clinic Strauss opened after he was ousted at Ohio State in the late 1990s. But Garrett quit after witnessing abuse by Strauss and then experiencing it himself.

The investigation, he said, left him angrier than before.

"We knew that it was systemic and it had been reported," Garrett said Friday. "It's even more widespread than we knew."

Garrett thinks the abuse carried out by Strauss across more than a dozen sports and at numerous locations even surpasses that of Larry Nassar, of Michigan State University, who was accused of molesting at least 250 women and girls and is serving what amounts to a life sentence.

"We did not get to put him on trial. The police did not get to investigate. That's why it's worse than the MSU case," Garrett said. "He took the easy way out."

No one has publicly defended Strauss, though family members have said they were shocked by the allegations.

The whistleblower credited with prompting the investigation said in a statement he feels "vindicated" but has mixed feelings about the law firm's findings.

Mike DiSabato, a former Ohio State wrestler, met with school officials in March 2018 to discuss the abuse that he and other athletes suffered at the hands of Strauss, prompting the school to hire Perkins Coie to conduct an investigation.

"Although a weight has been lifted off my back, I am deeply saddened to hear and relive the stories of so many others who suffered similar abuse by Dr. Strauss while Ohio State turned a blind eye," DiSabato's statement said.

He says the Perkins Coie report gives him "courage and strength to keep fighting to ensure Ohio State is held accountable for the damage and trauma they caused me and my family."

Ohio State President Michael Drake said there was a "consistent institutional failure" at the school, the nation's third-largest university. He apologized and commended victims for their courage.

The lawsuits against Ohio State are headed for mediation. They seek unspecified damages. Drake said the investigation alone has cost the school $6.2 million.

Separately, the U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights is examining whether Ohio State responded promptly and fairly to students' complaints. The department could cut the university's federal funding if it is found to have violated civil rights protections.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — One person has died following a fire in south Columbus.

It happened in the 4000 block of Clabber Road just before 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

Battalion Chief Steve Martin with the Columbus Division of Fire told 10TV there was one female that was pulled from the fire and taken to OSU Medical Center in critical condition. She was pronounced dead at 2:23 p.m.

Martin says a dog was also taken to a veterinary medical center in an unknown condition.

Authorities say the fire has been contained at this time.

Stay with 10TV and 10TV.com on this developing story.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Police released the identity Saturday of an 18-year-old student who was tackled after reportedly bringing a gun into classroom at an Oregon high school.

The Portland Police Bureau said Angel Granados Dias had been booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on suspicion of possessing a firearm in a public building, attempting to shoot a gun at a school and reckless endangerment.

Authorities say he is a student at Parkrose High School, where he brought the shotgun Friday. Witnesses told The Oregonian/OregonLive that he appeared distraught when he appeared at the door to their government class and pulled the weapon from beneath a long black trench coat, and that a football and track coach who also works security at the school, Keanon Lowe, tackled him before anyone got hurt. Lowe is a former football standout at the University of Oregon.

It wasn't immediately clear if Granados Dias had a lawyer. He was being held on $500,000 bail and was scheduled to appear in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Monday. There were no other suspects.

In a letter to families Friday evening, Parkrose School District Superintendent Michael Lopes Serrao said two students had informed a staff member of "concerning behavior" by the student who brought the gun. Security staff then responded, found him and quickly disarmed him, he said.

"Thanks to their heroic efforts all students and staff are safe," Lopes Serrao wrote.

Lowe told reporters as he was leaving a police interview Friday he was tired but relieved at the outcome, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported .

"I'm just happy everyone was OK," Lowe said. "I'm happy I was able to be there for the kids and for the community."

Lowe didn't reply to messages sent on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Police spokesman Sgt. Brad Yakots declined to confirm Lowe's reported involvement.

Yakots said the first responding officers found the gunman being detained by the staff member in the hallway. A firearm was recovered at the school, he added.

Parkrose was evacuated and a nearby middle school was on lockdown for several hours as the investigation unfolded. The high school students were bused to a nearby parking lot where they were reunited with their parents.

The outcome was "the best-case scenario, absolutely," Yakots said. "The staff member did an excellent job by all accounts, (and) our officers arrived within minutes and went right in."

Students recounted how the student entered their government class in the school's fine arts building — separate from the main building — just before noon. Lowe had been in the classroom earlier looking for the student.

About 10 minutes before the end of class, the student appeared in the doorway in a black trench coat and pulled out a long gun from beneath his coat, senior Justyn Wilcox, who also was in the room, told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

The student didn't point the gun at anyone, senior Alexa Pope said.

Students fled out the back door because the gunman was blocking the main doorway.

"As I was running, I was just like, 'Lord don't let this be it,'" Pope told the newspaper.

In college, Lowe was a star wide receiver at the University of Oregon, playing from 2011 to 2014. He caught 10 touchdown passes in his college career and had nearly 900 receiving yards. He also saw playing time on special teams.

After college, he worked as an offensive analyst for the San Francisco 49ers and as an analyst for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Lowe began working at Parkrose last year as the school's head football and track and field coach, according to his LinkedIn profile. Before that, he worked for his high school alma mater, Jesuit High, where he earned state defensive player of the year as a defensive back and was a standout sprinter.

Students, parents and co-workers lauded Lowe's actions on Twitter. Several also noted that the school's prom, scheduled for Saturday, was still on.

Olivia Katbi Smith wrote on Twitter that she coaches track with Lowe at Parkrose and wasn't surprised to learn what he did.

"As soon as I heard what happened I knew it was him because he would do anything for these kids. It was surreal to be waiting for my athletes behind caution tape today, but might have been much worse if not for Keanon," she wrote.

Lopes Serrao said the student with the gun will not be returning to school and that school will resume on Monday as usual with an enhanced security presence.

A powerful storm system stretching from Canada to Mexico is threatening millions of Americans. More than 40 million people across 18 states are preparing for storms that could last into the middle of next week, CBS News' Omar Villafranca reports.

There was an outbreak of severe storms overnight. Dozens of twisters were reported overnight in Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas, where eight tornadoes were reported within two hours.

Storm chasers in the state captured the beginnings of a tornado tossing a semi-truck onto its side. The team continued to follow the twister as it tore through the state's southwest. A mobile home in bloom suffered a direct hit. No injuries were reported.

Much of the damage included downed powerlines, which are believed to have sparked a grassfire.

Nebraska police said more than 1,000 were without power on Saturday morning.

More tornadoes are expected to touch down throughout the weekend. The National Weather Service also reports damaging winds, large hail and heavy rain from Texas to the Great Lakes.

"Severe thunderstorms and some flash flooding can be expected across portions of the Plains, Mississippi Valley and Ohio Valley this weekend," the weather service said.

Welcome back, everyone! For you first-time readers, happy to have you here!

This blog is dedicated to those dog lovers across central Ohio. Unless you have a large backyard, many of you probably walk your dog, or dogs, on a daily basis, and maybe even multiple times a day.

The purpose and goal of this blog is to help those dog walkers and their furry friends make the most out of their walks outside while being safe at the same time.

So, let's start things off with a look at what I call the "Comfort Scale."

You will notice on the images below there are certain colors that go with each time period/day of the week for the "Furr-cast." I developed this scale on my own, using several meteorological variables and some pet-friendly considerations.

You will see that the color "green" on the image above suggests that conditions are ideal for walking your pet and that there are no risks to either you or your pet, so walk all you want!

This brings me to the next level on the scale, which is a yellowish-orange color. This shows conditions are fair outside but you should still keep an eye on your pet. This is where the breed of your pet also comes into play. I'm not an expert on dogs but I know a Siberian Husky can withstand colder temperatures than a Chihuahua.

This is up to the owner to decide if the conditions are fair enough that they could take more casual, longer walks outside.

Lastly, we have the last ranking on the scale, which shows outside conditions are poor and pet owners should keep their walks short. Dangerous weather is developing or already present and pet owners should take action to make sure that their pets are properly taken care of. This shouldn't be used to decide whether or not you should go outside; but more so an indicator that you should take shorter, more frequent walks.

Now that we have a look at the method behind the comfort scale, let's take a look at this weekends "Furr-cast."

Get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather! Temperatures will climb into the mid to upper 80's this afternoon, so depending on your dogs breed, you may want to limit your time outside. Many people will be out and about today but it's important to keep your pets' safety at the forefront and make sure that they are hydrated and can spend time in the shade. Direct sunlight over a period of time both for you and your pet isn't good, so keep that in mind. Other than that, a few pop-up showers and storms will develop later this afternoon, so be mindful of that as well. Once the sun sets, it will still be warm out, so that might be a great time to go out to a local park and enjoy what is left of the daylight.

A similar tune weather-wise on Sunday but with better chances for showers and storms during the second half of the day. Stronger storms will be possible, so plan your walks accordingly. Get your walks in early on in the morning and keep those pets paws' off those hot surfaces.

Monday and Tuesday will be the best days for extended walks or visits to a local dog park next week. We're back into the 80's with more summer-like weather on Wednesday, so keep those pets hydrated and cool. While it's still technically "spring", we have some warm stretches ahead and eventually summer will be here. Take extra care of your pets when things heat up outside.

While it's common sense to not leave your pets or children unattended in vehicles, one may be surprised by how fast things can "heat up" inside a car even with the windows cracked. It's extremely important for your pet's health that you avoid leaving them in the car. In as soon as 10 minutes, a car can heat up by nearly 20 degrees. In cases such as this and how temperatures will pan out next week, it's best to leave the pets at home rather than putting their health at risk.

Another pet safety tip is to avoid paved or concrete roads or sidewalks when temperatures are warming up, especially later in the day when the sun has already been up for several hours under mostly sunny skies. These types of surfaces can heat up extremely fast and while the air temperature isn't too hot, the grounds can be much, much warmer. In cases such as this, it's important to keep their paws on grassy, cooler surfaces. An easy test to tell if the grounds are too hot for your pets is to simply place the back of your hand on the ground for seven seconds. If it is too hot for you, then it's likely it will be too hot for your pet's paws and that it could easily damage their skin.

• Heating up this weekend, keep your pets hydrated and cool!
• Avoid walking on hot surfaces. The grass is your friend!
• Limit walks during the heat of the day and enjoy the pleasant start to next week!

Each Friday, I will be posting a new "Furr-cast" for the weekend and week ahead and I would like to feature some of your pets on my blog. Also, if you have any suggestions or comments on my blog, I'd love to hear input. Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter and Facebook at Ross10TV. Enjoy the weekend and week ahead, furr-parents.

CHICAGO (AP) — A mother plotted for months to acquire a newborn before she and her daughter strangled a pregnant Chicago woman and cut her baby from her womb using a butcher's knife, prosecutors said Friday as they revealed gruesome new details about the case.

Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, 19, was lured to the home where Clarisa Figueroa lived with her daughter, Desiree, by Facebook postings offering free baby clothes. When she arrived, the daughter showed her a photo album of her late brother to distract her as her mother started trying to strangle her with a cord, prosecutor Jim Murphy said.

When Ochoa-Lopez managed to get her fingers under the cord, Clarisa Figueroa yelled at her 24-year-old daughter — "You're not doing your f---ing job!" The daughter then pried Ochoa-Lopez's fingers from the cord "one by one" while her mother continued to strangle the teen for another five minutes, Murphy said.

Once Ochoa-Lopez showed no signs of life, Clarisa Figueroa cut her open with a butcher's knife, removed the placenta and the baby, then put the baby in a bucket with the umbilical cord still attached, said Murphy, reading from court documents .

The plot may have originated in late 2018, when Clarisa Figueroa told her family she was pregnant and later posted on Facebook an ultrasound and photos of a room decorated for a baby. Desiree Figueroa was surprised, Murphy said, because her mother had previously had her fallopian tubes tied to prevent pregnancy.

Prosecutors highlighted that Clarisa Figueroa made the announcement about being pregnant not long after one of her adult sons had died of natural causes.

Clarisa Figueroa connected with Ochoa-Lopez on March 5 via a Facebook page for pregnant women. "Who is due in May?" Clarisa Figueroa asked in one message. "Where is the May mammas at?" Ochoa-Lopez, seven months' pregnant at the time, responded, and Clarisa Figueroa made the offer of free clothes, prosecutors said.

When Clarisa Figueroa first asked her daughter to help her kill someone to get a baby, the daughter initially said no, Murphy said. He also revealed publicly for the first time that Desiree Figueroa is four months' pregnant.

They first met with Ochoa-Lopez around April 1, though she left unharmed that day. Desiree Figueroa had told her boyfriend about her mother's intention to kill Ochoa-Lopez, and he warned her he would call police if they harmed the young woman. The prosecutor said Clarisa Figueroa later told the boyfriend the whole scheme had been an April Fool's joke.

Ochoa-Lopez was killed when she returned a second time on April 23. After killing her, the mother and daughter allegedly wrapped her in a blanket and put the body into a large plastic bag. They then dragged it outside and placed it in a garbage can in a hidden area next to their garage on Chicago's Southwest Side, about 4 miles from Ochoa-Lopez's own home, according to authorities.

Clarisa Figueroa then called 911, claiming that she had just delivered her own newborn baby and that it was not breathing, authorities said. When first responders arrived, the child was blue. They tried to resuscitate the infant and transported Clarisa Figueroa and the boy to a nearby hospital.

When she went to the hospital, doctors who examined her found "no signs consistent with a woman who had just delivered a baby." She also had blood on her arms, hands and face that authorities later determined was from Ochoa-Lopez, prosecutors said.

It was not clear whether the hospital contacted police. In a statement issued Friday, Christ Medical Center in suburban Oak Lawn declined to comment, citing federal and state regulations. Oak Lawn police said they were not contacted about Figueroa by the medical center or any other agency, including the Chicago Police Department.

The boy remained hospitalized Friday in grave condition and was not expected to survive, police said.

Cook County Judge Susana Ortiz denied bond to the Figueroas, who are charged with murder, saying she felt "the presumption is great" that they committed a "heinous and brutal murder" and that they pose "a real and present" danger to the community. She also denied bond to Clarisa Figueroa's boyfriend, 40-year-old Piotr Bobak, who is charged with the concealment of a homicide.

The mother's lawyer asked Ortiz to place the Figueroas in protective custody for their safety from other inmates, given "the nature of the case." The Figueroas stood calmly during the hearing. As they left, the mother glanced back at the crowded gallery, where the victim's friends and relatives packed the spectator benches.

The arrests came three weeks after the disappearance of Ochoa-Lopez, whose decaying body was discovered this week with the cord still around her neck.

Police did not connect Ochoa-Lopez's disappearance and the 911 call about the baby until May 7, when friends of the teen directed detectives to her social media account, which showed she had communicated with Clarisa Figueroa.

At the same time, Clarisa Figueroa had started a GoFundMe campaign for the funeral of what she said was her dying baby, said Sara Walker, a spokeswoman for Ochoa-Lopez's family. Police then conducted DNA tests, which showed that Ochoa-Lopez and her husband, Yiovanni Lopez, were actually his parents, Walker said.

When police arrived to question Clarisa Figueroa, her daughter told them that her mother was in the hospital with some kind of leg injury, before adding that she had just delivered a baby, Brendan Deenihan, deputy chief of detectives, said Thursday.

Police then searched the neighborhood and found Ochoa-Lopez's car a few blocks away. On Tuesday they returned with a search warrant.

Ochoa-Lopez's mother, Raquel Uriostegui, said her daughter was born in Mexico and came to the United States when she was 2.

"My daughter was a very joyful girl. She had a lot of dreams," Uriostegui said.

"She wanted to do great things, like all of us," added her husband, Yiovanni Lopez.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (10TV) -- A 9-year-old boy is recovering after being shot in north Columbus.

It happened around 11 p.m. Friday on Azelda Street in north Columbus.

Columbus Police say the young child was inside a home with a rabbit when shots were fired from outside the home.

Police say the boy, and the rabbit were both struck by bullets.

The boy was taken to Nationwide Children's Hospital and expected to be OK.

Police say the rabbit also survived but is significantly injured and had to have one of its paws removed.

Authorities told 10TV there were about 20 people in the home at the time of the shooting.

Police believe it was a drive-by shooting and they do not have any description of possible suspects. If you have any information, you are asked to contact Columbus Police at (614) 645-4075 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at (614) 461-TIPS.

COLUMBUS – Columbus police officers are looking for a missing man last seen on the east side of the city on Friday.

Police said 70-year-old Ronald Fuller has dementia and he was last seen walking to a park in the area of Saranac Drive and Lake Club Drive around 6 p.m.

Fuller was last seen wearing a red shirt and blue jeans.

He has gray hair and brown eyes.

He is 5-feet 8-inches tall and weighs 190 pounds.

If anyone has any information, police ask you call them at 614-645-4545.

Following the release of the investigation into Dr. Richard Strauss, Ohio State University President Michael Drake spoke with 10TV.

Dr. Drake said the report on Strauss’ sexual abuse of 177 students over his 20-year employment at the university was shocking, painful and disgusting to read.

He also said he was deeply disappointed in the university for its failure to act at the time.

Drake says there are many new policies and procedures in force today aimed at preventing a scandal like this from ever happening again.

You can watch the full interview in the video player above.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled Friday the Trump administration acted in an "arbitrary and capricious" manner when it sought to end an Obama-era program that shields young immigrants from deportation.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2 to 1 that the Trump administration violated federal law when it tried to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program without adequately explaining why. The ruling overturns a lower court ruling a judge in Maryland made last year, which Trump had previously praised via Twitter.

Friday's ruling will not have any immediate effect as other federal courts have already ordered that DACA be kept in place.

The 4th Circuit ruling said the Department of Homeland Security did not "adequately account" for how ending DACA program would affect the hundreds of thousands of young people who "structured their lives" around the program.

"We recognize the struggle is not over and there are more battles to fight in the Supreme Court on this road to justice, but our families are emboldened by knowing that they are on the right side of history," said Gustavo Torres, executive director of Casa de Maryland, the lead plaintiff in the case.

Trump and his Justice Department have argued that the Obama administration acted unlawfully when it implemented DACA. The Justice Department declined to comment.

Preserving DACA is a top Democratic priority, but discussions between Trump and Democrats on the issue have gone nowhere.

Trump's latest immigration plan, unveiled Thursday, does not address what to do about the hundreds of thousands of young immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters that "every single time that we have put forward or anyone else has put forward any type of immigration plan that has included DACA it's failed."

DACA's fate could be decided by the Supreme Court, which is weighing the Trump administration's appeals of other federal court rulings.

The justices have set no date to take action.

If the high court decides it wants to hear the appeals, arguments would not take place before the fall. That means a decision is not expected until 2020, which could come in the thick of next year's presidential contest.